Lift up garage doors

ABSTRACT

A lift up door of the spring assisted type, particularly for garages, in which the door is mounted on a pair of columns in the door opening by a lever and bracket system. The springs are connected to levers on either side of the door to counterbalance the door weight. A further pair of levers are provided for connection between the door and the columns to control movement of the door, the arrangement being such that the door when in the UP or OPEN position is locked against accidental movement to the DOWN or CLOSED position.

United States Patent 1 1191 Tunjic I LIFT UP GARAGE DOORS [76] Inventor: Peter Tunjic, 19 Brisbane St.,

Eltham, Victoria, Australia [22] Filed: Jan. 19, I973 121 Appl. No.: 325,117

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. I9, 1972 Australia .1 7706/72 [52] US. Cl. ..l. 49/205 [51] Int. Cl ..,E05d 15/40 [58] Field of Search 49/203-206 [56] References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,109,898 3/1938 Byrne 49/205 2,557,833 6/1951 McFarlane 49/205- FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS France 49/205 11] 3,863,389 1451 Feb. 4, 1975 l/l962 France 49/205 Primary Examinerl(enneth Downey Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack [57] ABSTRACT A lift up door of the spring assisted type, particularly -for garages, in which the door is' mounted on a pair of columns in the door opening by a lever and bracket system. The 'springs are connected to levers on' either side of the door to counterbalance the door weight. A further pair of levers are provided for connection between the door and the columns to control movement of the door, the arrangement being such that the'door when in the UP or OPEN position is locked against accidental movement to the DOWN orCLOSED position;

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB 4W5 3.863.389

SHEET 2 [IF 2 LIFT UP GARAGE DOORS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to lift up garage doors, particularly garage doors of the spring assisted type.

There is normally provided with doors of this type a pair of lever arms pivotable about a horizontal axis on pivot pins in brackets mounted in column members arranged on each side of a door opening. The top end portion of the lever arms are pivotally connected to the door at selected positions whilst the bottom end portion of the levers are connected to tension springs to impart a counterbalancing force through the levers to relieve the weight of the door for movement between open and closed positions. V I

When a door of this type is in the open position, there is no positive locking mechanism for maintaining the door in position against accidental closure of the door" as by wind gusts. This is a major disadvantage with this type of door and it is an objective'of the present invention to provide a lift up garage door of the spring assisted type which will not accidentally close, yet is simple to manufacture and install, and easy to operate. Furthermore, it is an objective of the invention to reduce the overhead clearance space required to install a door of this type.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION bracketsystem, one bracket being attachable to each column and each having pivotally mounted thereon a' pair of lever arms, one arm being connectable at or near the top of the door and the other arm connectable between top and bottom of the door, the other lever arm being biased by spring assistance to counterbalance the weight of the door when in use, the arrangement of the levers on the bracket being such that, in use, the door is locked in the UP position against accidental movement to-the DOWN position.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an attachment for a lift up door of the spring assisted type for use in an opening having a pair of columns, one on each'side of the opening, such attachment including a pivot pin adapted to be mounted on each column member, a lever arm pivotally mounted on each pin, an end portion of the lever arm adapted to be connectedto a tension spring for biasing the arms about the pins to a substantially upright position, the other end portion of the lever arms being adapted to be connected to the door when in use at a point on one side of the line of the opening when the door is in the UP position, a pair of link members each adapted to be pivotally mounted one at each side on the door at a point on the other side of the line of the opening when the door is in the UP position, thelink member being also adapted to be pivotally mounted at or near the top of each column member wherein in the UP position of the door, simple downward pivoting of the door is prevented.

Conveniently, each top link member is pivotally connected to an upstanding rigid support bracket, one connected to the top portion of each column member, the

the door being substantially coincident with the top of the door opening.

It has been discovered that the double pivotal conncction to the door as described above, prevents simple downward pivoting of the door yet the door can be easily and effortlessly closed by an initial forward substantially planar movement of the door after which normal pivotal movement to the DOWN position is possible.

The initial forward movement serves to provide sufficient clearance between the door and the top of the door opening to allow a'normal pivotal closure after completionof said initial forward movement of the door. Accordingly, the overhead clearance required in the actual installation of the door manufactured in accordance with the invention is minimal and should desirably be maintained below a predetermined minimum dimension.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in more detail having reference to the accompanying drawings in movement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS There is provided a garage door 10 in a single section for closing a door opening 11 of given dimensions. The door is pivotally mounted on a pair of lever members 12, one on each side of the door opening. The upper end of the lever members 12 attach to the door by a pivot connection 13 approximately one-third to onehalf of the height of-the door from the top. thereof. The lower end of the lever arms 12 is attached to a tension spring 14 connected to a rigid support 15 on the door opening or structure. The connection between the spring 14 and lever arm 12 is through a pivotally mounted link 16 havinga series of holes 17 to allow adjustment of the spring tension.

A link member 18-is pivotally attached to an upper portion of the door "at bracket 20 and to a bracket support 19 mounted on the column members of the door opening. Thus, there is a pivotal connection at both the top-and middle portionsof the door. The overhead clearance of the door, when mounted in anopening, is kept to an absolute minimum to prevent simple pivoting of the door about one of the pivot pins without also some linear movement of the door substantially parallel to the plane of the door in the UP position.

Thus, in operation, the door is easily lifted to the UP position under the influence of the tension springs. To close the door, it is necessary to move the door so that it pivots about both lever arms in a reverse downward pivotal connection to the bracket being slightly above the plane of the door in the UP position, the plane of are indicated by arrow Y to obtain adequate overhead clearance for it to move into the DOWN or CLOSED door position through the normal arc of a lift up type door indicated by arrow Z. A rope or cord or suitable handle may be provided to enable proper initial movement of the door from the UP position. A small flange 21 is provided on the end of. bracket support 19 adapted to engage link member 18 to limit upward movement of the door.

Thus, it will be appreciated that the door will not accidentally close from its UP position, as a wind gust or the like will not produce adequate force to move the door linearly, but that on the other hand, the door is easily operable and simple to manufacture and install.

What I claim is:

1. An attachment for a lift-up door of the spring assisted type for use in a door opening having a pair of column members one on each side of the opening, said attachment comprising:

a pivot pin adapted to be mounted at a fixed position -on each of said column members;

a lever arm pivotally mounted on each of said pins at a position intermediate opposite ends of said lever arm, one end portion of each of said lever arms having means adapted to be connected to a tension spring forbiasing said lever arms about said pivot pins to a substantially upright position, the opposite end portion of each of said lever arms being adapted to be connected to the door when in'use at a point on one side of the line of the opening when the door is in the UP position; and

a pair of rigid link members each having at one end thereof means adapted to be pivotally mounted one at each side at a fixed position on said door at a point on the other side of the line of the opening when the door is in the UP position, each of said -link members having at the opposite end thereof means, fixed in relation to said pivot pins at a position above the uppermost level of said door, adapted to be pivotally mounted adjacent the top of each column member for preventing simple downward pivoting of the bottom of said door when said door is in the UP position, said link members providing means when said door is in the UP position for allowing the top of said door to pivot downwardly in a first relatively minor arc constituting a first closing stage of the door, said first are being opposite to the direction of the eventual relatively major closing arc of the door constituting the second and final closing stage of the door and wherein the bottom of the door is pivoted downwardly.

2. An attachment as claimed in claim 1,- further comprising a pair of brackets each having a length up to one-half the height of said columns and extending from the top thereofjmeans adjacent the bottom of each bracket for attachment thereto of said pivot pin for said spring biased lever arm; means adjacent the top of each bracket for attaching thereto said opposite end of said link member; and means adjacent said top of each bracket including an abutment member for engaging said link member in the UP position of said door when in use to limit upward movement of said door. 

1. An attachment for a lift-up door of the spring assisted type for use in a door opening having a pair of column members one on each side of the opening, said attachment comprising: a pivot pin adapted to be mounted at a fixed position on each of said coLumn members; a lever arm pivotally mounted on each of said pins at a position intermediate opposite ends of said lever arm, one end portion of each of said lever arms having means adapted to be connected to a tension spring for biasing said lever arms about said pivot pins to a substantially upright position, the opposite end portion of each of said lever arms being adapted to be connected to the door when in use at a point on one side of the line of the opening when the door is in the UP position; and a pair of rigid link members each having at one end thereof means adapted to be pivotally mounted one at each side at a fixed position on said door at a point on the other side of the line of the opening when the door is in the UP position, each of said link members having at the opposite end thereof means, fixed in relation to said pivot pins at a position above the uppermost level of said door, adapted to be pivotally mounted adjacent the top of each column member for preventing simple downward pivoting of the bottom of said door when said door is in the UP position, said link members providing means when said door is in the UP position for allowing the top of said door to pivot downwardly in a first relatively minor arc constituting a first closing stage of the door, said first arc being opposite to the direction of the eventual relatively major closing arc of the door constituting the second and final closing stage of the door and wherein the bottom of the door is pivoted downwardly.
 2. An attachment as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a pair of brackets each having a length up to one-half the height of said columns and extending from the top thereof; means adjacent the bottom of each bracket for attachment thereto of said pivot pin for said spring biased lever arm; means adjacent the top of each bracket for attaching thereto said opposite end of said link member; and means adjacent said top of each bracket including an abutment member for engaging said link member in the UP position of said door when in use to limit upward movement of said door. 